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A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 21 december 2023

Homeless people who died on U.S. streets are increasingly

remembered at winter solstice gatherings

By ANITA SNOW Maricopa County is among
Associated Press few U.S. jurisdictions en-
PHOENIX (AP) — With his gaged in such tracking.
gap-tooth smile, hip-hop Drug and alcohol abuse fig-
routines and volunteer work ured into many deaths and
for a food charity, Roosevelt was often the main cause.
White III was well known in While a stroke killed White,
the downtown Phoenix tent methamphetamine intoxica-
city known as “The Zone.” tion contributed to his death,
But like many homeless peo- according to the medical
ple, White suffered from di- examiner. Cardiovascular
abetes and cardiovascular events like strokes and heart
disease. He died unexpect- attacks, followed by traffic
edly one sweltering Septem- injuries, are also common
ber day at age 36. ways that homeless people
Thousands of people like die.
White who died this year Many homeless people
without a permanent home are estranged from family,
are being memorialized on which means their deaths
Thursday in communities can pass virtually unnoticed.
from Cape Cod, Massachu- But when White died, at least
setts to La Crosse, Wiscon- 60 people, including family
sin, to Riverside, California. members from Arizona and
Established in 1990, the in- Documentary photographer Eric Elmore displays one of his images of Roosevelt White III, Tuesday, Oklahoma, showed up for
creasingly popular Homeless Dec 19, 2023, in Phoenix at the site of a fire where Roosevelt lived in his tent. his funeral. The food was
Persons’ Memorial Day is ob- Associated Press catered by Feed Phoenix,
served with prayers, candles, the nonprofit organization
moments of silence and the Maricopa County Medical she learned of a 3-year-old roughly 653,100 people in he volunteered with.
reading of names on Dec. Examiner investigated 732 homeless girl who died in the the United States were ex- Among the mourners was
21, the first day of winter and deaths of homeless people nation’s capital. periencing homelessness. Phoenix documentary pho-
the longest night of the year. in 2022, representing a 42% “Meanwhile, as our overall That’s a 12% overall increase tographer Eric Elmore, who
A national gathering called jump in deaths from 2021. population is growing older, over the previous year and created numerous black
“One Life, Too Many. Anoth- “Without sufficient hous- we are seeing more home- the highest since reporting and white portraits of White
er Year, Too Long” is planned ing and services, people less people dying in their began in 2007. over a year. The downtown
Thursday afternoon in Wash- will continue to die on the 60s,” said White. She noted “A lot of people living in encampment where White
ington, with a Zoom call so streets,” said Lisa Glow, CEO that many older homeless encampments are unin- lived once housed hundreds
people can follow from afar. at Central Arizona Shelter people with chronic con- sured and without access of people in tents, but has
Other gatherings will be in Services, which operates the ditions like diabetes don’t to medical treatment for since been cleared out un-
Cincinnati, Ohio; Wilmington, state’s largest emergency have the necessary condi- a variety of illnesses that der a court order.
Delaware; and San Diego. shelter, a 600-bed facility in tions, such as refrigeration are exacerbated by living “He had this kind of energy
A ceremony in Phoenix will Phoenix. for insulation, to care for their unsheltered,” said Etel Hax- that would just draw you in,”
honor 758 homeless people DeBorah Gilbert White, the health. hiaj, a spokesperson for the Elmore said of White. “He
confirmed to have died so public education director Overall, homelessness is National Healthcare for the had a huge personality.”
far this year in Maricopa for the National Coalition for surging. The recent Annual Homeless Council. Megan Kepler, who volun-
County, the most populous in the Homeless, said learning Homeless Assessment Re- The council supports the teered with White, remem-
Arizona and home to Phoe- about those who died can port from the Department remembrance events to bered him on Wednesday
nix, the state’s largest city. shatter stereotypes. At one of Housing and Urban De- push for better tracking of as “a man who was full of
That’s already a record. The event several years ago, velopment showed that the deaths. kindness and joy.”q

New York sues SiriusXM, accusing company of making it

deliberately hard to cancel subscriptions

radio and streaming service and frustrating process to ny said many of its plans can said in a statement.
of making it intentionally dif- cancel a subscription is a be canceled with a simple The attorney general’s office
ficult for its customers to can- stressful burden no one looks click of a button online. cited affidavits in which cus-
cel their subscriptions. forward to, and when com- “Like a number of consumer tomers complained of long
Attorney General Letitia panies make it hard to can- businesses, we offer a variety waits in an automated sys-
James’ office said an in- cel subscriptions, it’s illegal,” of options for customers to tem to chat with an agent,
vestigation into complaints the attorney general said in sign up for or cancel their only to endure lengthy at-
New York Attorney General
Letitia James speaks to the from customers found that a statement. SiriusXM subscription and, tempts to keep their business.
media, Nov. 6, 2023, in New SiriusXM forced subscribers to The company disputed the upon receiving and review- It takes subscribers an av-
York. wait in an automated system claims, arguing that many of ing the complaint, we intend erage of 11.5 minutes to
Associated Press before often lengthy interac- the lengthy interaction times to vigorously defend against cancel by phone, and 30
tions with agents who were cited in the lawsuit were these baseless allegations minutes to cancel online, al-
NEW YORK (AP) — New trained in ways to avoid ac- based on a 2020 inquiry and that grossly mischaracter- though for many subscribers
York’s attorney general filed cepting a request to cancel were caused in part by the ize SiriusXM’s practices,” it takes far longer, the attor-
suit Wednesday against Siri- service. effects of the pandemic on Jessica Casano-Antonellis, ney general’s office said.q
usXM, accusing the satellite “Having to endure a lengthy their operations. The compa- a company spokeswoman,